Can I make a living choreographing for young children?

Q: “I want to make a living choreographing for young children (2- to 5-year-olds). Is there a market for this kind of choreography?”

–– D’TaRelle F. Tullis

Pitter Patter Feet, Union, New Jersey.

A: “I would never hire a choreographer to set a piece on my 2- to 5-year-olds, because they don’t even know where the front of the stage is yet. But I do have faculty members who specialize in teaching my youngest children. For a lot of studios, the bulk of their students are that age group, so a teacher that specializes in that kind of teaching is valuable and hard to find. There’s definitely a market for a teacher, but choreography is a stretch.

“At many super-competitive studios, students start competing at a very young age. Still, people won’t spend the dollars on choreography that they would on older children. But many studio owners and teachers do very well by building and fostering young performing companies. You might consider directing a mini company, specifically one that is on the competitive circuit and performs a lot of choreography.”